Garment construction



Jan. 10, 1967 R. L.. BEARD ETAL 3,296,627

GARMENT CONSTRUCTION Filed June 50, 1965 ,INVENTORS RALPH L. BEARD J. FRED HESTER BY (f k Q D /SW ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,296,627 GARMENT CONSTRUCTION Ralph L. Beard and James Fred Hester, Winston-Salem, N.C., assignors to Hanes Corporation, Winston-Salem, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed June 30, 1965, Ser. No. 468,539 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-113) This invention relates to garment construction, and more particularly to a collaret construction for the neck opening of garments of the slip-over type. While not necessarily limited to any specific garment, the invention is probably most useful in knitted garments of the type commonly referred to as T-shirts.

In the manufacture of T-shirts and related slip-over garments, it is a common practice to form the body of the garment from a section of knitted tubular material. A neck opening is cut in the material and this opening is finished by applying to the body of the garment What is commonly called a collaret. The collaret is ordinarily made of a 1 x 1 rib knit material, the material being passed through a folding machine and doubled back upon itself to provide two layers before being applied to the garment. As applied to the garment the two layers are disposed on opposite sides of the garment body material, and the free edge of the outer layer is turned under and stitched to the garment so as not to leave a raw edge outwardly of the garment. The lower edge of the inner layer is commonly left with a raw edge, and this inner raw edge is substantially covered by crows-foot stitching which attaches the collaret to the garment body.

In such garments, particularly T-shirts, repeated wearing and washing often result in the neck opening or collaret becoming permanently distorted because of stretching, sagging or bulging. Substantial improvements have been made over the years, but these disadvantages still persist in varying degrees. Quite often proposed designs minimized the distortion problem, but substantially impaired the appearance of the garment. Other proposed designs required multiple parts or complex folds in the collaret resulting in comparatively difficult and timeconsuming manufacture, often raising the cost of the garment so as to render it non-competitive.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a reinforcing strip or neck or collaret construction which is durable, yet neat and attractive, and which will retain its shape and size after repeated washing and wearing, but which can be simply and easily constructed at a reduction in cost as compared to other constructions which attempt to achieve the same or similar characteristics.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a neck or collaret construction by utilizing a folded collaret which is unitary in structure, simple to fold and easy to apply to knitted garments.

It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a neck or collaret construction which can be formed into a rounded or an elongated oval shape that will not sag, bulge or become distorted at its lower extremity by utilizing a simplified and durable unitary reinforcing and protecting collaret structure.

Finally, it is an object of the invention to provide a neck or collaret construction which is exceptionally strong and durable and which lessens the strain on seams through the use of double folds of unitary collaret material which absorb the strains resulting from use and laundering.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claim.

In the drawings:

3,296,627 Patented Jan. 10, 1967 ice FIGURE 1 is a front view of a garment having a rounded neck opening incorporating the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary face view of the neck portion of the garment;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary exploded sectional view of the invention, the structure being shown in perspective from the front side of the garment; and

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of the collaret portion through section line 4 of FIGURE 2.

Referring to FIGURES 1-4 inclusive, the body of the garment is shown at 1 and may be formed from any conventional and suitable material, such as flat knit fabric, jersey, etc. This material is usually knitted in tubular form and cut into appropriate tubular lengths to form the bodies of individual garments. The body is provided with a finished lower edge 2 and with sleeves 3 which are suitably attached to opposite sides of the upper end of the garment body. The body of the garment is cut away in the usual manner at its upper extremity to form a neck opening which is generally designated 4 in FIGURES 1 and 2. This general manner of construction is conventional.

The neck opening 4 is visibly framed by a strip of collaret material generally designated 5, which is doubly folded along its longitudinal axis at 7a and 7b, respectively, to form doubled-walled inner and outer layers 5a and 5b, respectively. This collaret material may be of any suitable construction, probably a 1 x 1 rib knit material being most advantageous in the case of T-shirts.

The lower edges of the inner layer 5a are left raw and are secured by stitching 6 in a manner to be further described hereinafter. The lower edge of the outer layer 51) has a finished surface due to the first fold 7a.

In accordance with the invention, the edge of the. body fabric 1 extends upwardly between the layers 5a and 5b substantially to the second longitudinal fold 7b in the collaret strip 5. Lines of stitching 6 pass through the lower portions of the collaret strip 5 and the body fabric 1 to complete the assembly. As shown in FIGURE 2, crows-foot stitching is used so as to prevent fraying of the raw edge of layer 5a. This type of stitching is well known in the art, and possesses a high degree of flexibility longitudinally of the rows, as pointed out in US. Patent 2,728,080, which is owned by the assignee of the instant invention.

In manufacture, the collaret strip 5 can be folded in a folding machine or machines and applied to the neck opening 4 of the body 1 for subsequent sewing. Any of several fabrics can be used to form the components of the complete assembly. In a particularly satisfactory T-shirt construction, the body fabric is a flat knit or jersey structure and the collarette strip fabric is a 1 x 1 rib knit structure.

Garments embodying the instant invention have proved to be very satisfactory in tests and in actual wearing and laundering. The multiple folded layers of body material and collaret material, assembled as shown in the previously described embodiment, have exhibited exceptional strength and durability, as well as a marked resistance to sagging, bulging, or other distortions. It will be apparent also that the improved functional features have been achieved without effecting any substantial change in the outward appearance of the garment. By doubly folding the collaret material, apparently any tendency of the collaret to curl relative to the body material is precluded, which curling might be expected in the case of more simply constructed collarets. Finally, it will be apparent that the assembly according to the invention can be manu factured without substantial additional expense since no additional sewing operations are required.

Having described the invention in the manner required 3 by the patent statutes, we wish it to be understood that the foregoing disclosure is illustrative rather than definitive, and that the scope of the invention is defined by the subjoined claim interpreted in the light of the specification and drawings.

We claim:

A garment collar edge construction, comprising: a knitted fabric body portion having an edge defining a neck opening; an elongate strip-form collarette member of constant width extending along said edge in a closed endless configuration to frame said opening, said collarette member comprising an elongate strip of rib knitted material of constant Width folded upon itself along a first fold line so as to form a doubled layer of material, said doubled layer of material being folded along a second fold line parallel to said first fold line to form first and second double layers, said collarette member being mounted on said fabric body portion so as to have the double layers of said second fold extend from said edge continuously straight along opposite faces of said fabric body portion and so as to have said edge extend along said second fold line immediately adjacent thereto, said first fold line being located at the extreme end of the first.

, secured to said fabric body portion only by said row of stitching.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 86,427 7/ 1897 Eighmie 2l27 1,481,371 1/1924 Hughes 112419 X 2,011,512 8/1935 Charmichael et a1. 112-419 X 2,601,046 6/1952 McDonald 21 13 X 2,728,080 12/ 1955 Beard 21 13 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. RICHARD J. SCANLAN, JR., Examiner. 

